By Alexandra Brzozowski, Alice Taylor and Georgi Gotev
A recent Franco-German proposal for a new dialogue framework between Kosovo and Serbia, which EURACTIV has obtained from a trusted source, reveals indirectly, based on the text’s interpretations, how little synergy exists between the two sides to solve the issue.
Following the brutal Kosovo war between 1998-1999, and Pristina’s declaration of independence from Serbia in 2008, with US and EU backing, the relationship between the two states has remained strained. Attempts under the EU-facilitated Belgrade-Pristina dialogue have yielded little tangible progress since its launch in 2011.
Since September, rumours have swirled that a new framework has been drafted by recently appointed envoys to the region from Paris and Berlin, indicating a new will to tackle one of the crucial issues in the region, whose six countries have set their sights on EU membership.
Officials in Belgrade and Pristina confirmed the existence of a new German-French proposal for a deal on Kosovo’s final status but disagreed about what the document actually says.
A push to get the deal signed by the end of the year has come from all sides, including France, Germany, and the US, which has dropped multiple hints over the last weeks. Meanwhile, EU officials pledged their support for their agreement at the Berlin Process Summit last week.
Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić has said that the plan suggested UN membership for Kosovo, without opposition from Serbia. Kosovo is not a UN member because China and Russia, permanent members of the UN Security Council, have vetoed such a move.
Vučić also noted it would give Serbia more EU funds and a fast track to bloc membership, but said this position was ‘unacceptable’ since it contravenes Serbia’s constitution, which explicitly rejects the recognition of Kosovo.
Kosovo says the proposal sees the resolution of issues between the counties in several stages and also envisages the recognition of Kosovo by the five EU member states that currently do not, Spain, Greece, Cyprus, Romania, and Slovakia, with Serbia merely accepting it exists, rather than recognising it formally.
However, the Franco-German proposal in its present form, obtained by EURACTIV and published without edits below, paints a very different picture. It is unclear what previous versions of this text might have said.
Rather than recognition and firm deadlines, this draft focuses on the normalisation of relations from the perspective of a common EU future, the most critical element being the exchange of permanent missions, similar to embassies but at a lower level.
Proposal contents
Article 1
Kosovo and Serbia shall develop normal, good neighbourly relations with each other based on equal rights.
Article 2
Kosovo and Serbia will be guided by their mutual aspirations to EU membership.
Article 3
In conformity with the SAA [Stabilisation and Association Agreements] signed by both parties, Kosovo and Serbia shall settle any disputes between then exclusively by peaceful means and refrain from the threat or use of force.
They reaffirm the inviolability now and in the future of the frontier/boundary existing between them and undertake fully to respect each other’s territorial integrity.
Article 4
Kosovo and Serbia proceed on the assumption that neither of the two parties can represent the other in the international sphere nor act on its behalf.
Article 5
Kosovo and Serbia shall promote peaceful relations in the Western Balkans and contribute to regional security and cooperation in Europe.
Article 6
Kosovo and Serbia proceed on the mutual respect of each party’s jurisdiction.
Article 7
Kosovo and Serbia declare their readiness to regulate practical and humanitarian questions in the process of the normalisation of their relations. They shall conclude agreements with the view to developing and promoting on the basis of the present Treaty and for their mutual benefit cooperation in the fields of economics, science and technology, transport, judicial relations, posts and telecommunications, health, culture, sport, environmental protection, and in other fields. The details have been agreed in the Supplementary Protocol.
Article 8
Kosovo and Serbia shall exchange Permanent Missions. They shall be established at the respective Government’s seat.
Practical questions relating to the establishment of the Missions shall be dealt with separately.
Article 9
Kosovo and Serbia agree that the present Treaty shall not affect the bilateral and multilateral international treaties and agreements already concluded by them or relating to them.
EU push
Based on the discussion so far, at the Berlin Process Summit last week, the EU’s chief diplomat Josep Borrell presented “a proposal to the parties to make concrete and irreversible progress on the road to comprehensive normalisation”, which was supported by Germany and France.
Germany has come out in full force in the push for a sign on the dotted line.
“We support [EU’s Special Representative] Miroslav Lajčák with all our might. We have repeatedly done this together with France, but of course also with the Quint. We hope that the dialogue will progress, and the current crisis underscores the urgency again,” the German foreign ministry told EURACTIV.
A German foreign ministry spokesperson said earlier this week that “with regard to the Western Balkans, but especially in relation to Kosovo and Serbia, we must get away from regularly looking into the abyss of expiring deadlines. This is such a deadline”.
“The point is that compromises have to be made now,” the spokesperson added.
However, the past week’s developments have largely been perceived as contradictory: On the one hand, a positive atmosphere at the Western Balkans conference in Berlin, on the other, the flare-up of regional tensions, primarily between Belgrade and Pristina, that followed over the weekend.
Serbs in northern Kosovo quit state jobs in protest over licence plate row
The Serb minority in northern Kosovo will resign from roles in public institutions in protest over a row on vehicle number plates, a political leader said Saturday (5 November).
Tensions escalated after Kosovo earlier this month (1 November) started implementing in stages a rule which requires all car owners in the country to use plates issued by the Pristina government.
This will impact some 10,000 vehicles in the Serb-majority north which still use Serb plates issued by Belgrade in the 1990s.
Pristina wanted to roll out the change in June, but it was postponed until 31 October amid international pressure.
Then, following foreign intervention, Kosovo’s Prime Minister Albin Kurti announced it would be rolled out gradually, starting with warnings, then fines, and then the prohibition of such plates completely by mid-April 2023.
The news sparked outrage and protests among local Serbs and the mass resignation of Serb representatives in the police, judiciary, and other institutions.
The resignations came under pressure from the Belgrade-backed Serb List along with arson on any vehicles switching their plates, RFE/RL reported.
Road to Tirana and way forward
EU officials now worry that the recent escalation, as well as threats from Belgrade, could present a setback on the way to any kind of agreement between the two sides.
“Recent developments put years of hard work under the Belgrade-Pristina Dialogue at risk,” Borrell said in a statement last week.
Both the EU and NATO have urged the two sides to refrain from any unilateral actions.
“We were hoping that there is finally some momentum in the right direction and towards some kind of settlement of the issue, especially towards the Western Balkans Summit in December,” an EU official with knowledge of the matter told EURACTIV.
In the summer, Belgrade and Pristina both promised to meet at least once a month in Brussels under the EU-facilitated dialogue, which has not taken place to date and, with Borrell set to travel out of Brussels for the next few weeks, is unlikely before December.
“But realistically, now a win would already be if the two sides at least decide to meet face to face,” the official added.
The US has, meanwhile, been keener to push for an end-of-year deadline making multiple mentions of it in the last weeks.
“European colleagues say this is a matter of weeks and not years – for an agreement, for the way forward. Taking into account the context of what is happening, everyone must take responsibility to create stability, not only in Europe but also in the region,” US envoy for the region, Gabriel Escobar, told local media in late October.
Local reactions
Serbia’s Foreign Affairs Minister, Ivica Dačić, said on Sunday (6 November) the Franco-German plan implies “the position that the independence of Kosovo is already a done deal”, but that Serbia cannot accept that.
“It does not give us a chance to negotiate, because the basis from which it starts, that Kosovo is an independent state, is unacceptable to us,” Dačić was quoted as saying by N1.
Kosovo would favour the Franco-German plan as it would essentially mean Serbia giving up its claims to Kosovo, with backing from “the most powerful European countries as well as the United States of America”, Glauk Konjufca, chairman of the Assembly of Kosovo, hinted on Tuesday (8 November). / EURACTIV
